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16 billion 510 million AMD is designed to allocate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2023, instead of 18 billion 434 million AMD. The RA Minister of Finance Tigran Khachatryan informed about this at the joint sitting of the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations and on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs, where the financial allocations and the membership fees to the international organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the RA draft law on the RA State Budget for 2023.

According to the RA Minister of Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, the Ministry of Foreign Minister presented about 19 billion 280 million AMD bid, but 16 billion AMD bid was approved by the draft.

He noted that the difference is conditioned by the currency exchange rates.

Ararat Mirzoyan has informed that in 2023, it was designed to implement 5 programmes with 10 measures. According to the Minister, in 2023 it is envisaged to open diplomatic representations and offices in a number of countries. “At this moment, it is planned to open an Embassy in Uruguay and Consulate General in the city of Tabriz of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said. Ararat Mirzoyan also informed that in 2023 diplomatic offices will be opened in Cyprus and in Serbia. A Consulate Office will be opened in the city of Vladikavkaz in the Russian Federation.

The Foreign Minister also answered the deputies’ questions.

The deputy of the NA Civil Contract Faction Gugen Arsenyan was not pleased with the budget of the Foreign Ministry. In his opinion, the work and the activeness that exist in the diplomatic field of the Foreign Ministry, should have its reflection also in the sphere of financial support. According to the MP, the budget of the Foreign Ministry should be not less than 25 billion AMD.

Ararat Mirzoyan thanked the MP for the evaluation and mentioned that the executive body mostly has met the budget bids.

MP Sargis Khandanyan was interested in the dynamics of the regulation of the Armenian-Turkish relations. Ararat Mirzoyan informed that many concrete discussions go on, including at the level of special representatives. He expressed hope that positive results will be in the near future.

“In the negotiations with Azerbaijan there is one good, and one bad news,” the Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said, answering to the question of the MP Hripsime Grigoryan, which referred to the settlement of Armenia-Azerbaijan issue. “The bad thing is that in all issues and directions, around which Armenia negotiates with Azerbaijan, meets the expansionist positions of that country. My impression is that Azerbaijan, considering that it has had military successes, can dictate some conditions to Armenia. That cannot be a reality,” Ararat Mirzoyan noted.

According to him, bad news is that in the relations connected with the existing problems there is the attention of the international community. “That attention gradually increases more and more, especially after the Azerbaijani aggression of September 13-14 the international community sent a very distinct message to Azerbaijan that the use of force cannot be a path for the solution of the issues,” he underlined.